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14 September 2011

Schiacciata con Uva e Rosmarino (Grapes & Rosemary)

This is trial number two to the Florentine focaccia dolce con uva fragola, otherwise known as schiacciata con uva fragola. I still believe the first recipe I tried of the concord grape cake a couple of weeks ago was not a focaccia, for that I renamed it as a cake. This new recipe I found instead is the real deal and I think it's material to be shared.

This is so good, because as you bite, the grapes ooze out from the focaccia. I did this as a trial to serve on my son's 6th birthday party but the grapes tend to become very messy because the wonderful thing about it is to eat it with the hands. Seeing purple everywhere, I looked for a plate & fork before my two kids find me with a schiacciata in between my two grubby purple hands and decide to copy me. Thus, I am abandoning the idea. I don't want to receive any dry cleaners' bills from "not so amused" parents.

Schiacciata means crushed as this bread is aptly named. The grapes are crushed in between two layers of bread dough. It is commonly done in Tuscany and can be found in Florence & Prato mainly.

Tracing its history, it was a sweet bread prepared by the peasants during the grape harvest festivals in Tuscany. The simplicity of its ingredients make it a poor man's dessert. Bread dough, extra virgin olive oil, sugar & black grapes. The canaiola variety was used because of its inferior quality and unsuitability for wine production.

Schiacciata con Uva e Rosmarino (Grapes & Rosemary)

Ingredients:

Serves 8 - 10

400 grams flour + extra for sprinkling the flour board and dough

700 grams - 1 kilo concord grapes

1 cube (25 grams) yeast melted in 1 cup of lukewarm water

1 tablespoon rosemary needles, chopped finely

about 150 grams sugar

extra virgin olive oil

pinch of salt

1. Mix the flour, a pinch of salt, 4 tablespoons sugar, 4 tablespoons extra
virgin olive oil & the cube of yeast melted in a cup of lukewarm
water. Knead until you reach an elastic & compact consistency. You
can adjust the amount of water & flour. Leave to rise for an
hour.2. Meantime, take away the seeds of the grapes.

3. After an hour, take 2/3 of the dough and flatten it with a rolling pin. Attain a thin rectangular shape that should go with the baking pan you are going to use.

4. Put a wax paper on the baking pan
and grease it lightly with oil.

5. Transfer the rectangular dough you
have just flattened. Make sure that the sides are higher by about 5
cm.

6. Put 3/4 of the grapes on the dough. Sprinkle with about 3 tablespoons of sugar & rosemary then drizzle with oil.

7. Knead the remaining dough and flatten with a rolling pin. Attain a thin rectangular shape.8. Cover the grapes on the baking pan with the remaining dough. Pinch the edges to close the sides.

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COPYRIGHT

All photos and text copyright: Rowena Dumlao - Giardina. If you re-post a recipe, please give credit and link to this site and PLEASE DO NOT RE-POST THE FULL RECIPE. If you are interested in using the photos, please contact me at: weng.dumlao@gmail.com